12/23/2023
Do you remember Callie from a few months ago? She is now Gabbie and has an interesting story.
Have you encountered scammers as a buyer? Well, scammers go after everyone.
Her story: One day I received a text from a lady interested in Callie. The conversation was pretty normal, but there were some red flags. I offered to FaceTime with the person and she agreed, so I thought things were OK. Later that day I tried to FaceTime her. For some reason I couldn't see her. I did end up speaking with her on the phone for about 5 minutes. All seemed OK again. I have caller ID on my phone and I could see her name and had her number. A couple of days later, she sent me the deposit for Callie. That is when more red flags appeared. The deposit said it was for "Nikki" and there was a different name on the PayPal account. I looked up the address and it seemed legit.
The lady was starting to make arrangements for pickup at a local airport. This requires a health certificate from the vet. I ask her for her name and address so I can give it to the vet. She says to write her mom's name on the health certificate. Now this is name #3. This name and address seemed legit, but something was still off. I asked again for her name and address and was given another name and address. A this point, I was done dealing with this person.
A few days go by and I see the person's name whom she said was her mom. I messaged that person to ask if she had a daughter who was buying a yorkie. This definitely was not the case and she became very worried because this person had her name and address.
The next day the "mom" messages me and says she knows how they got her info. She had purchased a couple of yorkies and she went to pick them up, only 1 puppy was there.
We determined the people she was buying from is a part of a large puppy smuggling ring and was trying to buy Callie to be the girl they had on their website. They are puppy smugglers and flippers. I was so relieved I did not let them have my girl.
During this time, the "mom" and I spoke quite a bit. We just could not believe what had happened. Well, she still wanted a chocolate girl and decided it was meant to be. She said she still wanted her and now sweet Gabbie has the best life. She has a puppy brother to play with and her human siblings as well. She helps her mommy study for her tests. She is just spoiled rotten, as it should be.
So, always be diligent when looking for a puppy or a new family for your puppies. Gabbie's story has a happy ending, but not many scammer stories do.